Promare and Fire Force

[Hanna Fechik]

So, back in October/November I decided to give these two anime,(one a film, and one a series) with similar concepts, but major differences a watch. And oh boy, I'll say it was an interesting experience with both. So, hands down Fire Force was my favorite out of those two, but I'll explain why.

 

So, the biggest similarity between Promare and fire Force is the concept obviously. Firefighting, and spontaneous human combustion, but a major difference with how it's presented. Promare also is more sci-fi geared, while Fire Force seems to be more dark fantasy-geared.

Promare: So, where to begin. First off, my biggest issue when watching the film, was I found the psychedelic colors and graphics a little distracting. That does not necessarily mean I disliked them, because I really did find them beautiful and fun. (almost reminded me of some of the sequences from this non-anime film).It was also, for some reason really hard to sit through, I'm usual good with stuff like that, so maybe it was the choice of location to watch? What I liked: The two main characters certainly had an interesting dynamic with each other, and overall the story was quite descent. That's pretty much majority of what I can say about this film.

Fire Force: I'll explain every reason why I enjoyed it from beginning to end. But of course, first to cover the issue that I'm sure many of us have with this series. The forced/ridiculous fan-service scenes, not doubt. Plus (if any you could properly explain), the way Fire Force represents religion is a little confusing to me. Is it some mix of western doctrine with eastern spiritualism? 

Now, why I loved it a lot more than the former? For one, the story was interesting enough to keep me really engaged. Something, I also really loved were the uniform designs, a great contrast of electric blue with black. Plus, there was a lot more time for humor, and the sitcom-like rivalry between Shinra and Arthur somehow managed to make me smile. This is also coming from somebody who has not watched or read Soul Eater, which is by the exact same person.

 

Now a big positive about both FF and Promare, is how they take an occupation like Firefighting, and give it a cool fantasy tone.  (Don't know about the firefighter guy from BNHA however, since I don't watch/really care for that anime)

 

So what are your thoughts?

[Ohayotaku]

I consider Promare to be largely NOISE both audibly & visually. Lots of yelling, lots of flashing lights, lots of garish colors, lots of cartoonishly exaggerated movements & expressions. I saw Promare & Mugen Train both in theaters. Mugen Train’s visuals frequently had me thinking “Whoa, that was AWESOME  “ Promare’s visuals frequently had me thinking “Ow, my eyes  “ Both spectacles, completely different impressions. There’s also the added handicap of a stand-alone movie format that doesn’t allow much time to expand on the story or cast beyond the central characters. Honestly the only reason I can think of it getting so much attention is the BL aspect of the MCs relationship,  but wasn’t anything revolutionary when it comes to anime. A bit of a tangent, but I actually do enjoy some of Trigger’s work, most notably Little Witch Academia (OVAs & tv series) & SSSS.Gridman. But I rank Promare in the  meh category along with BNA (Brand New Animal), not to be confused with BNHA (Boku no Hero Academia)  

Fire Force has a lot going for it. On the visual side, the fight choreography is awesome more often then not. Several characters are likable. There’s some complexity to the storyline with the various deceptions & conspiracies. And there’s some very interesting worldbuilding with it’s supernatural elements & the variety of forms the pyrokinetic abilities manifest in (exploitations of thermo-dynamics in many cases, though some of them seem like a stretch plausibly). What hamstrings the series is the creator’s sense of humor & the timing of it. It’s not just a matter of frequently being ecchi/crude/stupid, but many times it’s inserted into the story at times & situations where it kills the momentum instead lightening the mood. Humor is highly subjective, but personally it made me facepalm/cringe more than smile/laugh. As to your question about how it portrays religion, it obviously borrows quite heavily from the symbolism & rituals of Catholicism. But appears to be based on the series own “creation story” (“recreation” is actually more appropriate since there’s a post -apocalyptic & lost/misunderstood technology aspect to it). Overall the series seems to take a negative view of organized religion with the leadership being portrayed as being largely corrupt & manipulative (again some obvious parallels to scandals & conspiracies of Catholicism are made). But the series actually does make the point that there are also many practitioners with genuine belief & good motives. And that it is important to not just view the world & relationships in purely logical/material ways. It’s actually a pretty common representation, and not just in anime. Now if we could just get a season 3 to wrap everything up  

Final comment I’ll make is in regards to BNHA. I’m not aware of an actual firefighter character in it, assume you mean Endeavor whose powers are fire based or Todoroki who fire & ice abilities  

[Hanna Fechik]

3 hours ago, Ohayotaku said:

I consider Promare to be largely NOISE both audibly & visually. Lots of yelling, lots of flashing lights, lots of garish colors, lots of cartoonishly exaggerated movements & expressions. I saw Promare & Mugen Train both in theaters. Mugen Train’s visuals frequently had me thinking “Whoa, that was AWESOME  “ Promare’s visuals frequently had me thinking “Ow, my eyes  “ Both spectacles, completely different impressions. There’s also the added handicap of a stand-alone movie format that doesn’t allow much time to expand on the story or cast beyond the central characters. Honestly the only reason I can think of it getting so much attention is the BL aspect of the MCs relationship,  but wasn’t anything revolutionary when it comes to anime. A bit of a tangent, but I actually do enjoy some of Trigger’s work, most notably Little Witch Academia (OVAs & tv series) & SSSS.Gridman. But I rank Promare in the  meh category along with BNA (Brand New Animal), not to be confused with BNHA (Boku no Hero Academia)  

Fire Force has a lot going for it. On the visual side, the fight choreography is awesome more often then not. Several characters are likable. There’s some complexity to the storyline with the various deceptions & conspiracies. And there’s some very interesting worldbuilding with it’s supernatural elements & the variety of forms the pyrokinetic abilities manifest in (exploitations of thermo-dynamics in many cases, though some of them seem like a stretch plausibly). What hamstrings the series is the creator’s sense of humor & the timing of it. It’s not just a matter of frequently being ecchi/crude/stupid, but many times it’s inserted into the story at times & situations where it kills the momentum instead lightening the mood. Humor is highly subjective, but personally it made me facepalm/cringe more than smile/laugh. As to your question about how it portrays religion, it obviously borrows quite heavily from the symbolism & rituals of Catholicism. But appears to be based on the series own “creation story” (“recreation” is actually more appropriate since there’s a post -apocalyptic & lost/misunderstood technology aspect to it). Overall the series seems to take a negative view of organized religion with the leadership being portrayed as being largely corrupt & manipulative (again some obvious parallels to scandals & conspiracies of Catholicism are made). But the series actually does make the point that there are also many practitioners with genuine belief & good motives. And that it is important to not just view the world & relationships in purely logical/material ways. It’s actually a pretty common representation, and not just in anime. Now if we could just get a season 3 to wrap everything up  

Final comment I’ll make is in regards to BNHA. I’m not aware of an actual firefighter character in it, assume you mean Endeavor whose powers are fire based or Todoroki who fire & ice abilities  

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Yeah, a season 3 would be awesome. My favorite character is actually Maki and how cool and muscular she is.

 

As for BNHA, there's this character called Backdraft, who's costume resembles a firefighter uniform. That's what I was referring to.

[Ohayotaku]

41 minutes ago, Hanna Fechik said:

As for BNHA, there's this character called Backdraft, who's costume resembles a firefighter uniform. That's what I was referring to.

Yup, there he is in episode 1. My apologies. In my defense, he doesn’t appear to have played much of a role since then (I haven’t followed the manga). Looks like he will make an appearance in the upcoming Paranormal Liberation Front arc though.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Ohayotaku

[Hanna Fechik]

1 hour ago, Ohayotaku said:

Yup, there he is in episode 1. My apologies. In my defense, he doesn’t appear to have played much of a role since then (I haven’t followed the manga). Looks like he will make an appearance in the upcoming Paranormal Liberation Front arc though.

I don't keep up with the Fire Force manga. I own volume 24, and that's it.

 

Plus, one other manga/animeI found about firefighters, is not sci-fi or fantasy, just this slice of life, romance Josei (women's demographic) that's rather explicit. It's called "Fire at his Fingertips".